Tech innovations and new consumer channels are lowering barriers to entry
By Stephanie Ramirez
“The good news is that interest in entrepreneurial efforts is higher than ever. Many of the desires people have align closely with what direct selling is uniquely positioned to offer.” —Lisa Gudding, President, Ipsos
“Our Brand Partners need to be saying things at the same time in the same places because that attraction, when it’s coordinated correctly, can then speak to all of our other mediums out there such as websites and social media.” —Reyn Soffe, Senior Vice President of Marketing, Young Living Essential Oils
According to research conducted by the global market research firm Ipsos on behalf of the Direct Selling Education Foundation (DSEF) in late 2024, there’s been a positive shift in attitudes about direct selling and gig work as a way to earn money over the past five years.
Direct sellers are optimistic about the future and there are many that are making huge investments to meet consumer demands while continuing to grow through traditional models.
“The DSEF report is a valuable tool for understanding societies, markets, and people,” according to Lisa Gudding, president at Ipsos. “The good news is that interest in entrepreneurial efforts is higher than ever. Many of the desires people have align closely with what direct selling is uniquely positioned to offer.”
Overall, consumers are showing increasingly positive opinions of direct selling, with the share of favorable opinions growing by 6 percentage points since 2019.
Across all types of entrepreneurial opportunities, respondents primarily believe such endeavors allow them to earn supplemental income, but direct selling stands out as a way to become financially stable, according to the study.
“A second interesting arena identified in the study is about flexibility and about being your own boss,” Gudding adds. “Direct selling provides that in a way that I would say many of the other entrepreneurial options would have difficulty providing. There’s also more interest among young people, Gen Z for example, in entrepreneurial pursuits.”
Ninety-eight percent of the Gen Z respondants in the study were more likely to have interest in the entrepreneurial opportunities direct selling provides versus only 68% of Baby Boomers.
“These young people don’t have some of what might be considered the more dated perceptions of direct selling, and so this is fantastic because they’re coming in with a fresher view. They want to work for a company that’s going to provide them with the right training and that they authentically believe is offering a good product.”
Ashley Hower, chief marketing officer of Plexus Worldwide, has sentiments that couldn’t align more with these findings. Despite the rise of alternative work opportunities like gig economies and freelancing, she opines that direct selling still offers a unique, viable path for those seeking non-traditional career opportunities.
“Direct sales really used to be the only game in town if you were looking for a side hustle or a non-traditional career path,” Hower says. “With more options available to consumers, direct selling companies need to differentiate themselves and show why they remain a tried-and-true choice for motivated, creative individuals looking for something extra.”
However, Hower emphasizes that the direct selling industry has yet to fully crack the code on how to stand out in an increasingly competitive market filled with gig work options. She suggests that companies need to adapt to changing consumer expectations, particularly around technology and compensation plans.
“A lot of compensation plans in the industry are time-tested and trusted, but a lot of them don’t contemplate this newer way of doing business and the immediacy we see in other side hustles,” Hower says.
To remain competitive, she believes that companies must reevaluate their approach. “Any company that wants to play here needs to really step back and look at compensation plans, systems, marketing, storytelling—pretty much the entire end-to-end piece,” she said.
“This means being more transparent and proactive in showcasing the unique advantages of direct selling,” she continues. “The industry needs to ‘step out of the shadows’ and confidently declare what direct selling can offer. By doing so, companies can position themselves as a better, more sustainable alternative to other gig work options.”
Broader Consumer Trends for 2025
In addition to the work commissioned by the DSEF, Ipsos also conducts its own annual global trends report, and this year marks its 10th anniversary.
This year’s analysis surfaced 23 human values—each comprising a set of strongly correlated questions. The top three most optimistic and closely aligned values that are more likely to unite humans around the world were “informed consumerism,” “health improvement” and “health self-reliance.”
“What we’ve seen on the global trends topic is that this idea of independence is something that is becoming more and more prevalent in terms of how people are feeling,” Gudding shares. “When you feel like you’re part of an out-of-control world, the one thing that you can perhaps control is the elements that are happening in your own life.”
Consumers crave authentic messages from trusted sources, according to the report. However, there’s growing uncertainty about how and why consumers choose to trust certain organizations over others. The report indicates that 63% of consumers are prepared to pay more for a better customer experience.
Lowering Barriers to Entry
Many direct sellers are already aware of the consumer trends confirmed by some of Ipsos’ findings, and the common theme among them is how to make engaging with their brands as convenient and transparent as possible.
“If you look at the landscape of direct selling, obviously it’s changed quite a bit and I’m grateful to it because of affiliate marketing,” Reyn Soffe, senior vice president of marketing at Young Living Essential Oils, shares. “Affiliate marketing has opened up the landscape for anyone and everyone to sell at the most convenient level. It doesn’t mean MLM has to go away, it just means we have to adapt or change accordingly to meet the consumer needs.”
Some of the questions Soffe’s executive team asked itself heading into 2025 were: How convenient can we make it for someone who wants to start a business or just sell? How do we make it more flexible? How do we take away some of our business rules to meet the demands or speed up the need or the ability to attract new customers? What are the turnkey business services that we can provide so that they can better exercise their talents or their strengths so they don’t have to be full-blown business owners?
“We’re focused on attraction and conversion. When you start focusing on those two KPIs, you start understanding where your pain points are and so you’ll understand through the consumer’s eyes how a business builder can speed up the process.”
Young Living is currently updating its website and exploring different selling techniques. It has also recently launched Wyld Notes, a new all-natural perfume line that uses Young Living’s essential oils. This line exists as a separate business entity, offering a more traditional, non-MLM shopping experience, while still benefiting from the parent company’s legacy business model as a foundation. Sales are still tied to a unique business builder, but the customer experience is seamless.
“There’s a quicker way of checking out without the need to sign up, making it easier for customers to buy without the typical MLM process,” Soffe says. “This shift helps to attract a broader audience while keeping the business structure intact.”
Wyld Notes aims to attract customers, convert them into loyal users, and then provide opportunities to build like an MLM. The brand also focuses on simplifying the experience for consumers, removing complex terms like “PV” and “member” that can confuse potential buyers.
In terms of speed, the company acknowledges the need for faster shipping, similar to the Amazon delivery model. It is making strides by reconfiguring its shipping facilities to meet customer demand more quickly.
According to Hower, Plexus is making adjustments as well in order to reach new Brand Ambassadors. The company is actively working to lower the barrier to entry in the direct sales industry by enhancing its technology and refining its messaging to attract those seeking supplemental income.
It is also investing in major technology upgrades, including backend improvements that will make data more accessible and could enable features like daily pay.
“We are really upping the ability to meet people where they are and how they want to participate with technology, both as a consumer and as a business builder,” she explained.
In addition to technological advancements, Hower shares that Plexus has structured its compensation plan to appeal to individuals just looking for a little extra income rather than those seeking to build a large-scale business.
“Our compensation plan, unlike some others in our industry, is already pretty well tuned to people who are interested in making an extra $300 or $500 a month,” Hower says. “We talk a lot in our marketing and our storytelling about making a little bit extra every month and being an extra stream of income much more than we talk about building this massive business, which I know a lot of other companies lead with.”
Plexus is wrapping up a multi-year effort to upgrade its technology, making it easier and more intuitive for customers to shop and for business builders to succeed. Throughout the process, the company has been rolling out improvements while still operating its existing systems.
“The goal is to create a seamless shopping experience that meets the expectations set by major e-commerce platforms like Amazon, ensuring convenience and efficiency for everyone who interacts with Plexus,” Hower says.
Cohesive Brand Messaging and Leveraging Social Media
Reflecting on shifts coming out of 2024, Young Living’s Soffe shares how traditionally, many direct sellers provide distributors with basic marketing assets—essentially a folder of materials—and leave them to figure out how to use them.
He believes this approach needs to change. Instead of simply distributing assets, companies should focus on providing a structured system that allows Brand Partners to work in unison.
“Our Brand Partners need to be saying things at the same time in the same places because that attraction, when it’s coordinated correctly, can then speak to all of our other mediums out there such as websites and social media,” Soffe says.
By organizing Brand Partners as cohesive units, Soffe believes companies can drive momentum, improve brand messaging, and increase engagement.
“One of the key benefits of this approach is the power of social media algorithms, which favor community interaction,” Soffe shares. “Social media has become a dominant force in advertising and when Brand Partners support each other by commenting and engaging with each other’s posts, it enhances visibility, making their content more likely to be noticed by potential customers.”
This coordinated approach not only strengthens brand presence but also drives more effective community sales, leveraging the full potential of social media’s influence on consumers, he adds.
“By speaking with one voice, distributors can create a snowball effect that benefits both individual Brand Partners and the larger company,” he says.
The DSEF study correlates with the approach Young Living is taking. Gudding shares that about half of the people they spoke to said they are open to engaging with direct sellers via social media.
“This response is higher than we expected,” Gudding says. “This is great for those that are selling through those channels. Facebook is what people referenced the most, but we saw only three in 10 direct sellers are using Facebook for their business, so that could be a missed opportunity. We found a great deal of direct sellers having an account and yet few of them using it for actual business purposes.”
Refining While Staying True to Core Values
As direct selling evolves, many companies are focused on balancing tradition with innovation.
According to Kirsten Aguilar, executive vice president of global marketing and SeneCare at SeneGence International, the company is committed to supporting independent distributors while adapting to industry trends and consumer expectations.
“Our industry is seething with potential, and our amazing independent distributors and corporate team keep bringing fresh energy and new ideas—it’s contagious,” Aguilar says. “This enthusiasm fuels the company’s continued investment in new products, technology, and business opportunities.”
Aguilar opines that one major shift in the industry is the emphasis on authenticity and modern messaging in recruitment strategies.
SeneGence has embraced this by launching a “free to join” campaign, waiving enrollment fees to attract new distributors. “It’s not what we say now, it’s how we say it,” Aguilar explains.
“People are inundated with promise-filled messages in ads and social media content,” she says. “We need to remain authentic and appeal to people’s specific interests in our products and our business opportunities. This approach ensures the company remains relevant to younger generations while staying true to its mission.”
By embracing technology, listening to consumer preferences, and staying true to its founding principles, the company is positioning itself for another successful year—one that honors the past while building toward the future, according to Aguilar.
“Our field and the contributions our business model makes to our society and economy is something to honor and keep building on,” she says. “Now is not the time to pull back or be afraid to try something new. We can’t take our focus off our priority—our distributors—but we do owe it to them to keep evolving and exploring new ways to offer revolutionary products they want to see and income opportunities they want to work for.”
